Lachlan's Protégé

by V.F. Mason

[Eve1972]

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
To be honest, I am a bit unsure on what rating I want to give this one. I am flip-flopping between 3-Stars and 4-Stars. If I rate it based on enjoyment alone, then it is a solid 4-Stars. That said, I did have a few issues with it (more about those in a bit). In any case, this author does dark serial killers well, and this book was no exception. The writing was very good. The pace was OK. The plot was engaging and kept me turnings the pages. It had some good twists and turns. It had blood...a lot of blood. It had torture. We go back and forth in time, which I am not a big fan of, but it worked OK in this instance. Having said that, I did find myself a bit confused at certain times because we get a lot of dates thrown at us. Not to mention, sometimes we are in the past, then the present, then the future. So yea, a little confusing, but nothing overly annoying.

So on to the issues I had, and again, these were really more minor issues than things that greatly affected my feelings about the story. One was the pace. This book was a bit slow out of the gate. It really wasn't until 30% in that it started to pick up. Second, the relationship between Lachlan and Valencia felt a little underdeveloped for me. We get a lot of background scenes for Lachlan that set up why he is the way he is. Which is great, but because of so much page space being devoted to that the relationship suffered (IMO). I didn't quite feel as strong as a connection as I would have liked. Perhaps if we would have gotten more scenes from when they meet in Italy? Last, the ending felt very rushed for me, and it felt incomplete. I don't know if they are living together? (I think they were). If they were married? There were no "I love you", and this especially bothered me as his daughter says that to him, and the heroine notes he never says it back. I mean I get it, he is a serial killer, but he needed to tell his kid he loved her!!

SIDE NOT: I am adding this trigger warning as some content in this one could be triggering and a no go for people... there is rape of a child in this one. It isn't overly descriptive, but there are a couple scenes that could be distressful or triggering to people.




~HERO~
LACHLAN...I liked Lachlan for the most part. I mean, he wasn't going to win any "boyfriend of the year" awards, but I loved the darkness he let loose. My heart broke for him and all the pain and abuse he suffered. Also, he carried a cane with a knife in it. I love hot evil guys that carry canes...*lol*


~HEROINE~
VALENCIA...I liked Valencia well enough. I thought she was a bit of a doormat in regard to everyone around her, but I loved the way she stood up to Lachlan. 


~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book was pretty light on secondary characters. Or I should say, secondary characters that played large roles. We get A LOT of characters that come and go throughout the story, but none that I would say stand out. That said, I cannot wait for Jaxon's book! We also see a few familiar faces pop up. 


 

~HEAT LEVEL~
Surprisingly low. I am not sure why I was expecting something with more kink and heat, but there was really only two or three fairly spicy sex scenes. I wouldn't have minded a few more, and I think it may have helped me feel this couple's connection more.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Medium. I wouldn't say that I found this one too heavy on angst. The subject matter itself is heavy though. Neither were virgins. Neither had been with anyone else during the six months between when they first meet in Italy and when the books starts. There was also no OW or OM drama.


~IN THE END~
Did I enjoy it? Yes.
Was it perfect? No.
Would I recommend it? Undoubtedly.
What type of reader would this book cater too? Those who like a good dark romance. Just take head of the trigger warnings.
Will I read this author again? YES!